SAUDI ARABIA: DISTURBANCE IN MECCA

APPROVED FOR RELEASE^DATE: 07-24-2008 (b)(1) (b)(3) The occupation of the major mosque in Mecca by unidenti ied Muslim extremists apparently continued as of early today. Riyadh radio acknowledged the seizure for the first time this morning, but it identified the perpetrators only as "renegades against the Islamic religion" who have presented one of their group as the messiah. The broad- cast did not claim that Saudi National Guard units had recaptured the mosque.